be yourself…

“Be yourself everyone else is already taken.” -Oscar Wilde…

(scrap paper… plaster… paint… my photograph of a statue…glittered netting and handwritten sticker)

for Art Journal Journey’s “favorite poems/quotes” challenge thinking of Oscar Wilde I remembered our trip to the UK in 2013 and visiting a park in Dublin with a dedicated area to him…

we had the traveling tea cup along and had so many fun adventures…

and then we wandered into St Stephen’s Green and came upon a beautiful family of swans… I was beside myself with joy and we were amazed at how comfy they were on their little strip of grass with people on every side…

fun how one thing leads to another and can trigger sweet memories…

♣ Happy St Paddy’s Day ♣

my maiden name is Mahoney ♣

but then everyone is a little Irish on St Patrick’s Day…

thought I would share a sampling of photos from our trip to the Emerald Isle last June…

it was so beautiful there…

with sunshine…

or without…

we look forward to visiting again some day…

 “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” -Ferris Bueller

the simple things…

while at the grocery store the other day I could not resist the beautiful blue of these ornamental thistles…

then before I knew it a magazine jumped into my cart at the check out lane…

titles like “The Lost Art of Writing a Love Letter” and

 “Tea for Two…Where to go for fluffy scones & sticky cakes”  caught my eye and when I got home I discovered that this is a British magazine which charmed me further…

so while I am thinking back on our wonderful trip to the UK last June I am enjoying the warmer temperatures with some signs of spring showing here and there in Virginia…

we have a nice variety of feathered friends visiting our suet feeder…

that rascally squirrel and his pal have been hanging around a lot since they discovered the free food…

the robins are busy hopping all around on the ground looking for worms and splashing in melted snow puddles…

I wonder if it is true that robins hatched in our garden last year will return again this year which might account for some of the ‘robin wars‘ we had in the yard last year…

it was such a thrill on our trip last year to snap a few photos of the European Robins (SO cute!!!)…

joining Elizabeth and Bleubeard as I sip water in my Irish mug and munch on Trader Jo’s Sesame Honey Almonds wishing you a happy T day with time to enjoy some of the simple things…

“It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.” ~Paulo Coelho

Rinda’s 2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt: Part 2

continuing the scavenger hunt after Part 1 of my photographs here…

*pictures can be clicked for a little closer view*

9.  A photo with someone or something that is clearly out of place or doesn’t belong

after visiting Blarney Castle in Cork, Ireland we stopped at this cafe for some lunch and spied some bold and industrious Jackdaws helping clear some of the tables…

they worked hard to get into the foil wrapped butter and had good success…

practice, practice, practice 😉

10.  A bench that is outside

 Mr Magpie taking a bit of a rest on Father’s Day in Edinburgh, Scotland…

and another bench in the historic town of York, England…

11.  An animal in a zoo, aquarium, nature preserve, etc.

less than ten minutes drive from our home and not too far from Washington, DC there is a working 1930’s style farm with a nice variety of animals that is a kind of nature preserve…

it is an opportunity for suburban and city kids to get to see what a farm is like…

I enjoy visiting in all seasons…

something is always going on…

the other morning two roosters were having a LOUD crowing contest from the top of the pen…

12. A cloud in the shape of something (please specify what you see)

this proved to be a bit tricky with so many wonderful clouds in the sky changing so rapidly…

hearts seemed to be a recurring theme with thanks to Mr Magpie for doing his special draw a heart trick to help you see what we saw…

near Rock of Cashel, Ireland…

and some Scottish clouds…

good thing we helped you out a little showing you the hearts in the after photos eh…

we came to the conclusion that they don’t make clouds like they used to when we were kids and saw things all the time…

13.  A fence

our first stop after leaving London was Stonehenge and the pastoral scene above was just across the road…

misty hills of Ireland…

lovely green and breathtaking views of stone fences all through Ireland…

we took so many photos of the dry stone walls (used as fences) in England’s Lake District too…

14.  A stained glass object or a mosaic

a sample of the gorgeous stained glass in Cardiff Castle in Wales…

and a peek at the amazing Bath Abbey…

we visited a deconsecrated church turned into a beautiful bar…

the Pitcher & Piano in Nottingham, England…

with stained glass so stunning our photos do not begin to do them justice…

 

15.  A fire truck or police car

a fire engine in Oxford, England…Irish Police (Garda) and a Scottish fire engine…

Part 3 coming soon which will include:

16. A windmill
17. Candle(s)
18. Your local pub/bar, coffee house or tea shop
19. A fisherman
20. A dinosaur
21. A photograph of you with an artistic tool or craft supply (you cannot substitute for this item)
Bonus/substitute items. If you find any of the above items too difficult, feel free to substitute either (or both) of these items. You can substitute up to two items, but you cannot substitute Item #21:
-A person wearing an outfit (or item of clothing) that symbolizes your country
-A sundial

thank you Rinda for a really fun scavenger hunt…

Rinda’s 2013 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt: Part 1

thanks to Jo Murray in Australia last year I was introduced to Rinda and her Photography Scavenger Hunt…

Mr Magpie and I had a great time playing along on the 2012 hunt here and were very excited to take this year’s list on our trip to the UK and Ireland in June…

here is Part 1 of what will be 3 parts…

1. Open air market

our local farmers market is a colorful and lively place to visit…

2.  Theater for performing arts (not a movie theater)

we took this theater photo in Dublin, Ireland…

3.  City Hall, Capitol or other similar civic building

this is the Nottingham Council House on a damp day in June as we enjoyed each minute spent with special friends Linda and Brian…

our zoom lens let us enjoy some of the finer details of the 1920’s Neo-Baroque city hall building (meet me by the lions)…

4.   Airplane

we flew with Virgin Atlantic Airlines…

and enjoyed it very much…

5.  A sunset

there are times in the year that we get to see some of the most beautiful sunsets right outside our front door here in northern Virginia...

later the same day my husband took this amazing photograph of the full August moon…

6.  Someone or something taking a nap

grateful for a nice zoom lens on my camera I could not believe my eyes one morning when I spied this handsome fox resting under our neighbor’s tree…

7. A sign that is intentionally or unintentionally funny

this shop in Dublin, Ireland made us giggle…

just because…

and we puzzled a bit over this sign in London until we looked down a stairwell and saw that it was directing people to put their trash cans in a special spot…

 we learned so many interesting things and saw so many wonderful sights during our travels…

8.  A tower

or more at the very colorful Cardiff Castle in Wales…

the first tower photo was taken from this medieval castle keep…

Parts 2 and 3 will be coming soon to complete my scavenger list…

you can visit Rinda here and see the complete list on her sidebar…

everyone is most welcome to play along… 

our “traveled” tea cup…

making my way back into blogland I am eager to find out what you all have been up to…

so much can happen in a day…

on our overnight flight to London I had a crown pop off with a breakfast muffin (ACK!!!)…

so one of the first people I got to meet after the kind and helpful hotel concierge was a VERY nice and competent dentist that glued my crown back in place…

happily we were then ready to meet up with the lovely Margaret who flew into London for the day …

spending time with her again was such a sweet and special way to begin our tour…

I have missed my connections with you all and hope that you are well…

our trip was like a dream filled with new sights and sounds and experiences (some captured through the coach window with photoshop like results with no altering needed)…

we saw so much thanks to our Trafalgar coach tour director Michael Cronin who was more than amazing (our coach driver Kevin was also super)..

 our travels were full to the brim with chances to meet interesting people from around the globe …

our tour guide passed around his annotated map each day for us to copy onto our own maps which was a wonderful way to know exactly where we’d been…

we were taking so many photos daily that by our ninth day we had to buy another card thingie in Edinburgh for additional photo storage…

fair warning I will be using my blog as a visual journal of sorts to help document parts of our travels over the coming weeks…

happy to join Elizabeth and Bleubeard for Tea on Tuesday here...

hope I haven’t worn you out already 😉

Wet July Mandala Monday…

Hello and Happy July Dear Ones…

it is lovely to be able to connect with you all again and I look forward to getting around to visiting everyone…

we had a wonderful whirlwind of precious moments while traveling in Britain and Ireland…

much of me still drifts back to the amazing sights and experiences…

we have SO many photos still to go through which is another adventure all in itself…

thought I would dip my toes back in blogland by joining in with Dawn’s Mandala Monday this morning…

our Lavender is raging since I was away and the rains have prevented me from picking any upon our return…

it is lovely to walk out our front door when the sun is shining as the beautiful scent of Lavender wafts all around you…

it makes the bees very very happy too…

“Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness.”  ~Allen Ginsberg